Tears of Erised
by Rosealinde
Summary: Harry’s greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Larger summary inside. Post HBP DISCONTINUED - sorry!
1. Time

Tears of Erised

Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.

Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.

Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)

Pairings: Lily/James, Harry/Ginny, Sirius/OC, and mentions of Ron/Hermione

Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.

(A/N: So, I'm back and I'm starting this story all over. I've gone back and added/changed a few things around and cleaned up my writing. Most of the chapters are the same, though.

And as a warning, I usually get the biggest writer's block. The next month and a half is pretty free for me, so I should get plenty of chapters up but there may be blank periods where I don't post anything at all. Sorry in advance! I'm just bad.

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step – Lao-tzu

"Are you really sure you want to go through with this, Harry?"

Harry held back a frustrated scowl as he tapped his full trunk with his wand, making it shrink to the size of knut and he slipped it into a large pocket.

"Remus, this is the third time in twenty minutes that you've asked this and the answer is the same. Yes, I want to go through with this!"

The aged werewolf sighed as he handed Harry the rest of his things, which were already shrunk, and then just stood there, feeling very useless. "It's not safe and you're still wounded. Everyone knows you shouldn't be going off on your own, you've barely had time to recover! And you know the seeing charm takes a lot out of you."

This time, Harry did scowl and he turned to face Lupin.

"You of all people should know that I shouldn't be treated like a child and that's how I've been treated the last three months! Like a disabled child who can never be alone in a room, and I'm sick of it." He turned away from Lupin then and picked up a lavender colored potion in a vial before muttering, "Besides, Dumbledore was the one who said I have to do this…"

"Do you always do what a portrait tells you?"

"When it's a portrait of Dumbledore, yes!" Harry paused for a moment, calming himself down before speaking again. "We've been planning this for two months now, Remus and I can't change my mind now. I just… I just want a year of rest while still doing something, alright?"

Harry felt Lupin's hand on his shoulder, and he knew that the werewolf understood.

"Did you say your good byes to Ron and Hermione?" Lupin said and paused before adding, "And to Ginny?"

"I left them letters." He turned around to face Lupin again, the lavender potion still clutched in his hand.

"Speaking of letters, you're suppose to give this one to Dumbledore when you arrive." Lupin slipped a wrapped up piece of parchment into Harry's empty pocket. "And don't worry, Harry, we can clean up the wizarding world without you for a year. You do deserve a break, but we're all going to miss you."

"Just take care of Ginny for me, would you?" He hated himself for not telling Ginny about this, but he knew that if he did, he couldn't bear leaving her after saying good bye, even if she let him go or not.

"And you just take care of yourself."

Half grinning in sarcasm, Harry pulled the cork out of the potion vial. "Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it."

As Harry threw back his head to down the potion quickly and pointed his wand at himself, he barely heard Lupin's voice over the roar in his ears.

"I apologize in advance for your father!"

The incantation left his lips and all Harry was able to do to respond to Lupin's apology was give him a confused look before he was suddenly gone in a swirl of blue flames.

The flames were gone faster then they came and Lupin stood in a sorrowful silence that was soon interrupted by hurried footsteps coming up the stairs. The werewolf barely had enough time to turn his head before the door to Harry's bedroom was slammed open and there stood a furious woman, her messy red hair framing her face and she gripped a crumpled letter in her right hand. Still in her night gown, it looked as if she had just barged out of bed.

"Miss Weasley, what a pleasant surprise and so early in the morn –"

"Don't even start, Professor. Where he is?!" Ginny cut Lupin off and demanded in a voice just under a yell.

Lupin dropped his polite smile and looked sadly at the spot Harry was just standing in.

"I'm sorry, but he just left."

The sun was shining down that day; he could feel it blazing on his right cheek. But even though the rays were warm, the breeze that forced the leaves to rustle made it chilly anywhere in the shade. Everything was normal and calm, as if the swirl of blue flames that erupted on that spot just moments ago never happened.

Giving a soft sigh, Harry began to trek towards his destination – the Headmaster's office, of course.

He still had doubts about what he was doing, but it was too late. Almost everything was done and there was no point turning back now.

The soft click of wood on stone was heard as he walked through the halls mechanically. Small murmurs of words from teachers getting ready for the upcoming year also accompanied him as he traveled too slowly. His wish was to not run into anyone before getting to the Headmaster; because that was the only person he wanted to see right now. His stomach churned nervously at the thought of his beloved mentor alive again; he would be able to speak to something other then a portrait.

"Canary Cream," Harry said in an almost whisper and the gargoyle automatically moved very nosily. The boy quickly walked up the steps, his face still set in his usual frown.

He knocked very lightly.

"Come in," said a loud voice from the other side, a voice laced with curiosity and confusion. Harry knew that voice all to well, and with his stomach twisting even more, he opened the door to slip inside.

"I wasn't expecting anyone at this time. Please, come in and sit." The headmaster was positively glowing today.

Harry sat down in the cushy chair in front of the desk and stared in the direction of Dumbledore, fidgeting slightly.

"And I'd like to know who you are..." The simple statement was loaded with suspicion.

The boy quickly pulled out a letter and held it out for the old man.

"My name is Harry Winters and I'd like to attend your school. I've transferred from a small school in London, but since my Godfather died I decided to join a school that I've heard so many good things about."

Harry took a breath after that long sentence, and he could just imagine the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes as he took the letter from him to read.

"Winters, hmm? Well, this letter does tell me something different but we'll keep that our secret."

Harry sat up straight at that. He had no idea what was inside of the letter, as he was told not to look at it, but what he heard made him nervous.

"Are you..." He started, but was interrupted.

"Yes, I'm burning this letter as we speak. We don't want any unwanted eyes on it, now do we?"

"Did it say anything important?"

"This and that, of course. Nothing too amazing, just that you needed a break from everything and supposedly, this school needs a protector. Do you plan on being that protector, Mr. Winters?" The obvious disbelief in those words was heard.

The boy nodded, but kept his head down as he did so.

"Good," Dumbledore said, still with a tad of disbelief, "Of course you are welcome here. You are a little too old to be a seventh year but since you skipped that year, I can make an exception. School starts on September the first and you will be sorted into your house then, after all of the first years."

"That's two weeks from now, am I correct?"

"You are, Mr. Winters. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am a little busy today. You will be able to find your way out of the school, or do you need any help?" It wasn't a sarcastic or ill question, Dumbledore honestly wanted to know if he needed help or not.

"I found my way in, and I can find my way out. Thank you for your time Headmaster, and I'll see you in September."

Harry stood and walked towards the door, careful not to run into any of the Professor's tables. As he opened the door to walk out, he was stopped.

"Mr. Winters, any chance that you could tell me what happened to your eyes?"

His back was to Dumbledore but he didn't move. After a moment of silence, Harry lifted his right hand but stopped and dropped the hand back to his side right before he was able to touch his eyes.

"Maybe sometime this year, Professor, but now is not the time."

The blind boy could almost see the old man nod his head in agreement as he walked from the office.


	2. Falls

Tears of Erised

Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.

Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.

Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)

Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.

It sounded the same, smelt the same, and he was sure it looked the same. Diagon Alley never changed.

Harry broke out into his small smile as he walked down the street, his long staff clicking out in front of him so he wouldn't run into anyone. He had just finished talking with a much younger sounding Tom and was able to find himself a room in the Leaky Cauldron. While in there, he could feel the many stares of people. If they were distrustful stares or not, he couldn't tell.

The buzz of too many people speaking at once surrounded him completely. He couldn't catch one word and the misty outlines of many people made him nervous. There hadn't been this many people in Diagon Alley since his second year when everyone was around for Lockhart. It was a close walk; many stares, small bumps into people, stumbles and difficult to breathe. All in all, it wasn't very enjoyable.

Quickly, though not fast enough, Harry ended up at the bookstore Flourish & Blotts of all places. Reading wasn't an option for Harry, but with a few useful spells, he'd know what the page has to say anyway.

"And how may I help you?" Said a voice that Harry guessed to be a worker.

"Hogwarts, please; for seventh years." The shop was crowded, and he was quite surprised to be getting help by anyone without even asking for it. But then again, he couldn't be too hard to spot. Even when he's not considered famous anywhere, his wrapped up eyes, hunched short figure, wild hair, scarred face and walking stick did make him shine out too much for his liking.

"Ah yes, give me a moment and let me get those for you, sir." The footsteps of the employee took off in an opposite direction and faded into the noise of the shop. Harry didn't have any choice but to stay standing as he was, listening hard and getting bumped into constantly from clumsy customers.

A hand reached out and grabbed his sleeve, and he pulled back quickly, alarmed.

"Sir, it's just me," said the familiar voice of the worker, "I have your books if you'd like to pay for them over here." Harry took a deep breath and nodded, allowing the worker to hold onto his sleeve and guide him towards the counter.

Harry quickly paid from his bag of coins, trying not to show his frustration over how much money all of the books cost. Sure, he did have a whole vault full of money, but not here. The only money he had for the whole year was in a large bag, tucked away in his trunk. If he ran out, it'd be very bad news for him.

He thanked the worker for his help and walked from the shop at a fast pace. As he turned the corner, he realized too late that his pace was too quick and he ran full on into a red glowing person.

The boy cursed his luck and the person, who turned out to be a woman, gave out a loud yelp of surprise as they both fell to the floor. Harry's books thankfully landed nicely next to him but his walking stick went flying off to his right as he tried to keep his head from hitting the ground with both hands. The shadowy and indistinct colors all disappeared. Panic quickly over came him, and instead of apologizing to the woman as he had intended, he began to brush his hands on the ground, searching.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for that," He heard a girl's voice say, but he shook his head quickly in her direction, still waving his hands near the ground.

"I dropped my walking stick, please could you help me get it?" He practically cringed with embarrassment as he heard the panicked words come out of his own mouth. It was weak sounding.

"Of course!" He could hear the woman stand up and walk away from a moment before returning, handing him his staff. Harry gratefully grabbed at it, letting out a large sigh of relief as he wrapped both hands around it, the hazy colors of everyone around him returning. He just realized there were too many people standing and staring at them, none of them were moving.

He quickly ducked his head, even though they wouldn't be able to see his eyes anyway, but old habits always die hard.

"Here, let me help you up," The red glowing woman reached a hand down to his, which he took, and was pulled to his feet gracefully. Harry now 'looked' more closely at the woman to find not only was she glowing red, but also small hints of green and silver. The usual Slytherin colors didn't seem so horrible with this person.

"I'm sorry," He started in slightly soft voice, his hands gripping his walking stick just to reassure himself that he still had it, "I was the one who was walking too fast. You weren't hurt, were you?" He knew she wasn't, but it was polite to ask.

"No, I'm perfectly fine. Not even a scratch. I should be asking you the same thing, but you seem fine..." She trailed off for a moment, and Harry just stayed silent, watching her. "Your books, they're the same ones I need. Do you go to Hogwarts also?" Surprise was in her words.

"I'm actually just –"He was cut off from answering as someone came running up.

"Lily! There you are! What took you all this ti – Oh," the voice obviously belonging to a girl cut herself off, "Hello there. Lily, who's your friend?"

"We actually just met, or ran into each other rather. This is..." Lily stopped talking obviously waiting for the answer she herself was suppose to give.

"Harry Winters," He offered hesitantly, still getting used to a new name.

"I'm Jessica Paige, a dashing young woman of seventeen, since you can't see for yourself –"

A sharp "Jesse!" came from Lily, but it went unheard.

"And I can tell you still haven't met our Lily here. Lily Evans fully named. She herself is dashing, though don't bother with her, she's taken."

After hearing that name, Harry's mind just blanked out and similar to the meeting with Dumbledore the day before, his stomach gave a painful twist. He finally met his mother at last.

A/N: Longer then the last chapter, but still short. Had to write this one quickly, seeing as it was a little late here. Review please, and I swear I'll be nice. ;)


	3. Returning Home

Tears of Erised

Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.

Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.

Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)

Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it. – George Moore

The shock of meeting Lily didn't wear off for the next week. Most of his thoughts were on her as he stayed up in his room in the Leaky Cauldron to stay away from the crowded streets. He left the room only to eat and to finish buying supplies (which didn't take long). Then soon enough September came around. He didn't even realize it until Tom asked if he needed to call someone to get a ride to King's Cross and Harry of course took the offer.

So on the morning of September first, he found himself standing early in the muggle station, wearing dark sunglasses rather then the usual thin black cloth. His trunk was on a trolley behind him with an agitated Hedwig on top, sitting in her cage.

A few moments later, he stood by the Hogwarts Express, smiling contently up at it. His last year of school was finally starting after a year of skipping it and it'd be the most unusual one year yet, or so he thought.

He had his pick for compartments, seeing as he was thirty minutes early and there weren't very many students there yet, but more and more were arriving.

Making sure no one was about to open the compartment door, Harry quickly pulled off the glasses and kept his eyes tightly shut as he wrapped a black rag around his head. If anyone was watching him exchange sunglasses for cloth, they would've seen smudges of black before his eyes were hidden. With his eyes securely covered, the boy leaned his head back onto the seat to wait silently in his thoughts. He only had another twenty five minutes to go before the train began to leave and he was counting down the minutes.

More students began to walk into the platform, and he could hear them greeting friends, saying good bye to family and walking noisily into the train.

He was disturbed a few times by students opening the door, checking to see if it was empty or not. A few of them apologized for bothering him, and some just didn't say anything, but kept on moving for a compartment.

There was one time, though, ten minutes before the train was going to leave and the door was opened quite loudly.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't...Harry? It's nice to see you again!" He recognized Lily's voice. "Hey, Jesse! Get over here and see who I found."

Harry was smiling politely up at Lily when Jessica came walking up behind her.

"My, if it isn't Mister Runaway Winters. Why did you take off running like that the other day?"

"I wasn't running. That was a fast walk," he answered back, his smile fading slightly as he tried to look guilty.

"Whatever it was, hello again to you. C'mon, Lily, let's sit here for the ride. Most of the compartments are all full, unless you'd like to go on searching for you future hubby, James." Her voice was implying a joke.

"Jesse, you and I both know I despise Potter, and I don't plan on marrying him. Ever."

Harry frowned at this, but he moved near the window for them to sit. Both the girls settled into a seat next to each other, facing him and they both broke into a conversation. He turned his face towards the window and it wasn't much later when the train began to move. Lily and Jessica both jumped to the windows to yell out good byes to family.

"C'mon, Harry," Jessica said to him, "Say bye to your family. You can't just sit there and leave without saying goodbye, you won't be able to see them until the winter holidays." She took a large breath after saying that, because she spoke all too quickly so she could turn back to the window and keep waving.

"They aren't there," He answered after both girls sat back down and the train turned out of sight from the waving parents, "I was here early, so we said our goodbyes, and they left."

They accepted the answer and went back to talking as he turned to the window, letting the rays of the sun warm his face. He began to imagine the green landscape, high mountains, and large trees whizzing past their window, but he was soon awoken from his daydream.

"So, Winters," Jessica said suddenly, "How'd you get that scar on your face?"

He looked up in her direction at this, surprised.

"I'll have to apologize about my friend," irritation clearly was in Lily's voice, "She's always just a little..."

"Forward with her questions?" Harry finished for her, "I could tell. Which scar are you asking about?"

"The long one."

He ran his finger down the scar, starting from the top of his forehead, going past his eye down to his chin. "A knife; it happened a year ago, last summer."

"Was it an accident?"

"No, it was done purely to have a scar put in place. They thought my was face too pretty."

"Who are 'they'?" Lily asked after a moment.

He shook his head and didn't answer, instead looked back out the window.

"I still think your face is pretty, so it didn't work," Jesse started back up, "How about the one on your forehead there? Looks like a lightening bolt."

Harry wasn't planning on answering, but Lily did.

"Obviously it's a curse scar; looks old but not faded at all. And plus, it's not like anyone actually would take the time to carve that in your head, am I right?"

He nodded with a frown and Jessica gave a sigh.

"There she goes again. Miss Smart Knickers here likes to show off, but you'll get use to it through out the year." That earned Jessica a playful slap on the shoulder from Lily, and a smile from Harry.

A large portion of the ride was spent reading, dozing off and on, and Jessica trying to convince both he and Lily to play cards with her. Lily gave in after an hour of begging. She and Jessica began playing a normal muggle card game, from Lily's deck of cards. Harry only half listened to their playing and kept his face turned out towards the window. He kept trying imagine the landscape again but all he could think about was talking to Dumbledore and meeting Lily. Maybe he could find some peace at last in this time. Vaguely, he wondered what James was like. Was he still a bully?

While in the middle of about the fifth card game (Lily winning everyone before it), and the sky outside the window was turning dark, the compartment door opened up, and Harry looked over to 'see' two people standing in the entrance, and two more behind them.

"Lily, love of my life, how was your summer?" Said a man's voice, who was obviously trying to sound kind. Harry guessed who it was and happiness filled him, but it was short lived..

"It was fine. Now I already know what you want, Potter and the answer is no, so go back to your compartment." Lily's voice was annoyed, but also held a small bit of cheerfulness.

"Hey, Lilyflower, who's the bloke?" The next voice was different from the first, and sound of it made Harry's stomach twist even more then it did while meeting Lily. He forced himself to glance away for an instant to catch his breath before returning his attention.

"No one of your concern, Black. Now go, and you'll just see me at the feast." Lily's attempt of trying to shoo the boys away didn't work.

"He's small enough to be a first year..." the first said.

"But I'm not." Harry answered back a bit harshly without meaning to, staying seated but still facing the boy in front of him. "Listen to Lily. She obviously doesn't want you here, so leave."

"Who are you to tell me what to – "Harry cut him off.

"Harry Winters. I'm coming to this school for a year. And you are?"

"James Potter." The boy answered with a tinge of anger.

Harry wasn't too surprised to hear the name, already guessing beforehand. But he couldn't help his heart twisting painfully and his hand gripping his ever present walking stick hard enough to make his knuckles turn white. He carefully kept his face blank.

"Nice to meet you. So, say what you wanted to and then be on your way." He could just feel James' glare.

James stared at the new boy for a few more moments before turning back to Lily, saying in a less gleeful voice, "Will you go out with me on the first Hogsmeade weekend?"

"What did I say last time you asked me?" Lily questioned him.

"Yes...?"

"I said no, and it's the same now. Go. We'll be at the school soon anyway."

The boy sighed and Harry turned his face back to the window. The James of now was a lot more mature then he was at the age of fifteen, when Harry first saw him. He was warned that he was still immature, and he'd only start to act like the grown up James Potter in the middle of his seventh year. Harry never got an explanation why, but he had hoped to still become friends with his father. Now, after getting angry at James for bothering Lily, it didn't seem likely.

"Just know, Lilyflower, we all still love you." Said a voice in a jokingly manner.

"Thank you for the reminder, Sirius. Now off with you too, and Remus, I hope you can hold them in line again this year!"

His heart twisted again at both names. He desperately wished to see them all at the age they were at, but he would have pay large consequences to do so.

They left, though not very quickly and Lily shut the door behind them.

"Sorry about them. After all these years, James still hasn't learned..."

"Learned that Lily is actually deeply in love with him, but she's too much of an idiot git to tell him." Jessica finished for her.

"Oh yeah? I didn't exactly hear you spilling your heart out to Sirius Black." Lily laughed and Harry could guess Jesse was either blushing, or glaring.

"So that's why you were so quiet when they walked in." He commented on. Lily laughed again.

It wasn't much longer when the train began to slow and the three of them began to scramble around the compartment, pulling on robes. He was nervous, since he knew he had to walk in front of the entire school for the second time in his life and place a hat over his head. He desperately hoped the hat wouldn't cover his eyes like it did in his first year or he'd be mistaken for one.

The train stopped and the many compartment doors could be heard opening. Student after student filled into the aisle and made the slow trek to the exit, Harry, Lily, and Jessica also being in the crowd.

As he stepped off, the loud voice of Hagrid could be heard over their heads. Harry bid the girls good bye and walked over to the half giant.

"Are ye the new student?" Hagrid spoke in his usual gruff voice. He didn't sound or smell any different.

"Yes sir. Am I suppose to go with you?" Harry answered.

"Yeah, ye are, Mister...Win'ers, righ'?"

He nodded to the half giant and stepped a side to wait for all the first years to gather.

Soon enough he was being helped into a boat by a first year girl who was holding onto his sleeve and telling him where to step. He was grateful, but still embarrassed. He knew he needed all the help he could get, but still couldn't help feeling ashamed. After an entire summer of trying to learn how to do the hard things such as reading and spellcasting, he never did learn how to find things yet without a wand.

The wind made his hair ruffle out, making it even more messier in appearance. He changed his hair for this trip; his usual short messy hair was now longer but still would get dishevelled on occasion. He was told it looked a bit like Sirius' hair: long, thick, and somewhat messier. So he of course enjoyed his hair this way.

First years began to gasp and talk excitedly, so the castle was in view. Harry lifted his face up towards Hogwarts and smiled happily for the second time that day. He was going back to his home, but a home different then the one he was use to.


	4. Feasts

Tears of Erised

Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.

Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.

Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)

Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.

The hall was silent, despite having hundreds of people inside. The only sounds were the steps and gasps from the first years. Harry tried to hunch over to make himself look even smaller, but he knew would stand out with his walking-stick. There was no use in trying, but he tried anyway.

"Ardmore, Brianna."

So the sorting began and he kept his head down, waiting patiently for his turn.

But as he waited, he began to daydream again, thinking about when he first put the hat on and what sights there were in the hall. At least this time he wouldn't have to see all the eyes on him as he went up to the hat, remembering how embarrassing it was at eleven years old. Although, he was use to all the stares by now. He only realized when the sorting was over when he heard the familiar voice of Dumbledore speaking.

"Welcome back. I'm sure you all notice we still have one first year in front of us. This here is Harry Winters and he is not a first year, but in fact a seventh year. There have been very few transfers in all the years of Hogwarts, but since the muggles do it, why not ourselves?'

Harry took this as his sign to walk up the steps to the stool. He heard a few people giggling and someone take hold of his arm. That person, probably a much younger McGonagall, guided him to the hat a few feet from where he thought it had been. The giggling stopped once he placed the hat onto his head.

"What's this?" He heard the voice in his head, "Here I was told you are Winters, but you are Harry Potter and partly To –"

"Could you please get on with the sorting?" Harry muttered quietly under his breath.

"Impatient, are we? Let's see here...difficult to decide, but there's something there that's perfect. Yes, you'd do well there. You are already an excellent lair, very clever and you have –"

"No," He cut the hat off again, "Not Slytherin. Put me somewhere else...please."

"Slytherin is the house for you, Mr. Potter. You're cunning and you can charm people easily. You may only be here for a single year, but you can still achieve greatness in that house as I said in your first year, even with such a short time. But, if you really don't want to..."

"I don't." Harry answered quickly.

"So be it... GRYFFINDOR!"

He sighed in relief and took the hat off before he headed towards the loudest table.

"Harry!" He heard Lily call, "Come sit over here with us!"

Lily took his hand and placed it on the empty chair next to her. He sat down, setting his walking stick slowly under his chair. Immediately the misty colors around him disappeared and he was slapped on the back by Jessica.

"Nice going, Winters," She said. "But now you've got to stay in the same room with Lily's future husband. I wonder how long you'll survive, since you got along with all of them so well."

He and Lily sighed at the same time.

All the small chatter in the hall dispersed as Dumbledore stood.

"Welcome back to all of the returning students, and welcome to all of the new ones to a new year at Hogwarts! I'd like all of you to welcome our new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Milton." There was scattered applause that didn't last long, "Now as a reminder, the Forbidden Forest is just that and there will be no magic in the halls, as usual."

"C'mon, Professor lets get the food!" Sirius Black called out.

"Yes, quite right Mr. Black. With all that said, let us be fed and watered."

The food appeared on the plates and talk began at once. Hesitantly, Harry asked for help with the food and Lily quickly piled his plate.

"Honestly, I don't think James Potter could be that bad..." He said in a tone that clearly sounded as if he didn't believe it, although he desperately wanted to.

"Alright," Jessica started, "There's Potter, Black, Lupin – Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. All of them together do so many pranks and 'jokes' on students they don't like and a few teachers. They've toned it down a little since getting older and such, but they did have their moments last year."

As if on cue, there was a large bang and crash across the hall. All of the Gryffindors around him began to laugh as he looked Lily's way in confusion and he heard her sigh.

"Thank you!" He heard both James and Sirius call out and more people began to laugh but went silent after a moment.

"Mr. Potter and Mr. Black," Professor McGonagall called out, "Sit down now! You will have you punishments after the feast. And all of you come up here to let me clean that off. Anyone hurt?"

Once they were back into their seats, people began to chatter and laugh again. Harry looked at Jessica.

"Alright, what just happened?"

"Not one of their most original pranks, but it is the beginning of the yea – "

"They just let off a firework at Severus Snape," An angry Lily interrupted, "It didn't hit him thankfully, but it did hit his plate. His face got covered in chicken and pumpkin juice while every Slytherin within five feet got splayed with food." She sighed heavily and Jessica gave a short laugh.

"It's not like most of them don't deserve it. Come on, Lily, admit it: it was funny. You need to stop sticking up for Snape." Harry wholeheartedly, but silently, agreed with Jesse.

"You say that too often." She replied to her friend.

"It's the truth."

Harry looked down at his plate and smiled slightly. He's never heard of Lily having a friend named Jesse, but then again he never really learned much about his mother. If he couldn't be close to his father as he had hoped, he'd be glad to at least know Lily. Still smiling, he began eating his food again, listening to the conversations of the students around him.

Soon the dessert came and was gone and many students began to feel sleepy, even one first year nodded off on her plate, much to the amusement from the people around her. Dumbledore stood once more and McGonagall tapped her cup to quiet to already somewhat silent crowd.

"One last thing I have to announce, we will have some aurors visit Hogwarts a few times throughout the year. You all will be informed of when they are coming and when they leave. They're only here for our safety, as you know Lord Voldemort is becoming an even greater problem lately. Now off to bed with all of you, classes begin in the morning. Good night."

Everyone stood up loudly, and Harry could vaguely hear McGonagall shouting for James and Sirius.

He lifted his walking stick back into his hands and sighed gratefully when all of the shades of colors came back into his mind. There were so many young witches and wizards walking from the hall, the auras of all of them almost blinding. Harry smiled brightly at them all and was led through the hall by Lily and Jesse. Even though he knew how to get to the Gryffindor Tower without seeing, he had to fake it.

"Hey," Jessica began to speak once they were out of the hall and it wasn't so loud, "This is the first time I've actually seen you smile, Winters. Do it more often."

He just smiled at her and let himself be led towards his new room.


	5. Potions

Tears of Erised

Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.

Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.

Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)

Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.

He waited as long as he could. Lily and Jessica went to bed, but he waited long after they left. He sat on the couch, facing the fire and feeling the warmth on his face. As soon as everyone was upstairs and he was close to nodding off, he finally stood and went up to his new dormitory. The door opened cautiously, and he heaved a sigh of relief when he heard snoring.

"Your bed is over there," someone whispered.

Harry jumped in surprise and almost grabbed for his wand out of instinct, but stopped himself. "Who's there?" He whispered out.

"Sorry I frightened you. I'm Remus, and your bed is to your right."

He turned to his right, and sure enough there was an empty bed with his trunk sitting next to it.

"Thanks." He whispered to Remus, but he didn't answer back. Harry climbed into his bed and closed the curtains before undressing. Slipping under his blanket, he finally took the cloth off from around his eyes and set it next to his pillow. His dead green eyes stared up at nothing, the scars surrounding the eyes looking even more ghostly. They closed slowly and began to dream of gazing at mountains again before the dreams turned dark, as they always did.

"James." The said boy grunted tiredly.

"Jaaaames...Prongs!" He just waved his hand as if to shoo away the voice and buried his face in the pillow.

"Do you want me to pour water on you like I did last year?"

"No..." He finally gave a muffled answer from the pillow, "Go, leave me. I want to sleep..."

"Do you want to be late for the first day of potions?"

"Yeah..."

"Fine, no breakfast for you. I hear there are blueberry muffins today."

James finally poked his head out from under the pillow to come face to face with a blurred, smiling Remus.

"Where's Sirius?"

"Still in bed. I have to work on him next, just thought to use your help. You know how hard it is to wake him, especially on the first day."

The boy known as Prongs sighed tiredly but sat up and grabbed his glasses from the side table to slip them on, the room automatically coming into focus.

"Just spell water on him, you know there is no other way to get him up."

Remus just smiled that rare mischievous smile and went to carry out the mission. James just shook his head in sympathy for Sirius and stood up from his bed, quickly pulling some robes out of his trunk to slip on.

As soon as he pulled the robes over his head, there was a loud yelp and Remus ran from the room with a large grin. Sirius sat up in his bed with a glare, his night clothes covered in water and his black hair sticking to his face. His glaring eyes turned to James.

"This was partly your fault, wasn't it?" James just smirked at him and picked up his book-bag to swing over his shoulder.

"Just spell yourself dry, Padfoot."

The boy grumbled and stood from bed, pulling out his wand and drying himself. "Hey, is the new kid up?"

James shrugged and walked to the new boy's bed, pulling back the curtains to find the bed empty.

His plate was pushed near the center of the table and his forehead was placed where the plate should've been. He suspected most of the students in the school were just as tired as he, but he was too tired to ask.

"Long night, Winters?" Jessica took a seat next to him, grabbing a piece of toast to munch on, "Lily warned you about staying up late, doesn't do well with classes."

Harry lifted his head to look her way, rubbing at his eyes under his cloth, "She's right, but I didn't stay up that late, just didn't sleep well."

Just after he spoke, McGonagall walked by them, passing them all schedules. Harry took his wand out and pressed it upon the schedules, quickly learning the classes for the week.

"Potions? First class on Monday. That's unlucky." He commented.

"Really? How exciting, I love potions."

He gave Jessica a look of disbelief, "Are you being serious or sarcastic? I can't tell with you."

"I thought wizards who couldn't see would have very heightened senses."

"I just lost my sight three months ago, so I'm still getting use to this."

"Oh, in that case, yes I was being serious. Potions is my best subject and the teacher isn't that bad."

Harry had to remind himself that Snape wasn't the teacher but now the student. He took a bite of toast, chewing quickly.

"Where's Lily?"

"She's probably walking down to the dungeons already," Jessica answered, "She loves getting a good seat." Harry was reminded of Hermione, but he quickly stopped thinking about his best friend. Thinking about her hurt too much.

"I'm going to head down. Meet you down there?"

"Sure." She said inattentive, eating another toast.

He stood and walked from the table, his walking stick clicking out in front of him.

Their feet were pounding as they ran full out to class. Because Sirius refused to go to potions without something to eat, now he, James, and Peter were all going to be late. Remus already had taken off earlier to class, knowing if he stayed with his friends he wouldn't make it in time. He told them all this, but the other three assured him that they wouldn't be late. Remus had just shook his head knowingly and headed for class.

The classroom was a whole hall away when the bell rang. James and Sirius both started sprinting faster and left Peter lagging behind.

When they did make it to the class, unfortunately both of them were running too fast. Sirius slammed open the dungeon door, tripped on the bottom door frame and James' foot caught Sirius' leg, making them both land on their fronts a few feet from the door. The whole class burst into laughter a half second later. They both had enough grace to stand back up and laugh along with everyone, Peter laughing the most behind them.

After that, they made it to their seats near the front, behind Lily and Jessica. The new kid, Harry, was sitting in the next desk over by Lily. The thought of another boy getting close to his Lily sickened James, but he only made a silent scowl just as Professor Slughorn walked into the classroom. Slughorn's waistcoat's golden buttons strained against his large belly, as usual.

"Amazing," Said the large man jovially, "I come in later then the famous Marauders? I believe it's a record. I've said it every year and I'll say it again, I still can't believe the four of you are still going to school. You should've been expelled a long time ago."

"Thank you very much, Sir. We missed you too." Sirius said with a grin. A few students chuckled and the teacher just shook his shiny, bald head.

"If you say so, Mr. Black. Now, today we're doing a review potion, only because it is our very first class. So books out! We're doing the aging potion, shouldn't be too hard. Mr. Snape,"

The Professor addressed a black hair and pale boy sitting in the back, "Come sit next to...Mr. Winters, wasn't it? I want you to read him the directions on the board and show him where all of the supplies are. You're a smart chap, I know you and Mr. Winters will do fine. That's all; now begin the potion with a partner."

"But sir," Peter started in a timid voice as Snape grudgingly left his seat to walk to the front, "This isn't review, and I don't remember doing this potion before."

"Actually, Mr. Pettigrew, we did this potion last April," Slughorn started, barely glancing and giving any attention to Peter. "Pay more attention, please, or you won't be able to pass your N.E.W.T.s, which is at the end of this year. Get ready for the hardest year at Hogwarts, class. Oh, and begin the potion now please!"

Half the class stood, making a loud ruckus of chairs being pushed back and they all migrated to the supply cupboards. James heard Snape snap at Harry to stay in his seat as he went to get the supplies. Once he sat back down, Sirius leaned over to him and spoke quietly while getting the potion ready.

"Hey, Prongs, what do you think of the new kid? Kind of creepy to me, and a bit...dark."

James' eyes landed on said boy. Sirius was right about him being 'kind of creepy'. Long black hair, three different scars showing on his face, one looking like a lightening bolt, and the fact that his eyes were constantly covered. He took an immediately disliking to the boy, not because of how he acted, but because Lily seemed to like his company, something James himself had yet to accomplish.

"I don't really like the guy," He finally answered and Sirius nodded, agreeing with him.

The rest of the class was relatively uneventful, except when on of the Slytherins melted a cauldron, which Professor Slughorn took care of quickly. Other then that, the short Professor went around the classroom as they worked, and exclaimed loudly how "Excellent, excellent!" Lily was with her potion making. In the end, all of the students beside those two Slytherins put their potions in a vial and turned them in.

They all left the classroom and slowly made their way to the next class.

"Hey, James," Sirius said to him, "You need to set the try-outs for Quidditch soon, the seas – "

"I know, Padfoot, just give me a couple of weeks."

Sirius just shrugged and they continued on their way.


	6. Conversations

Tears of Erised

Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.

Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.

Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)

Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.

In the room the women come and go

Talking of Michelangelo. – T.S. Eliot

It was early Thursday morning, four days since the school term started and Harry had never had more homework in his life. Although he found it difficult to get back into schoolwork after a year break, he wasn't complaining. It kept him awake long into the night, not allowing him to have his constant nightmares that had been plaguing him for a year now. But out of all his classes, oddly enough, Potions was the least to give homework. Professor Slughorn only gave the class two essays to work on.

Harry sat at the Gryffindor table, trying to figure out which food was which when someone plopped down next to him.

"Good morning, Harry," Lily said brightly, automatically placing a piece of toast onto Harry's plate, "Excited about Defense against the Darks Arts today? The teacher is supposed to be a good one."

His response was a small smile and a nod, "Yeah, it's always been my best subject."

She perked up at that response, "Really? What were your O.W.L results? I just got an EE - my only EE; quite disappointing really."

Hermione popped into his mind again before he answered, "I was able to get an O."

They both fell silent after that. Harry couldn't tell if Lily went silent out of disappointment for being beat or if she was just eating. As he listened to the few early waking students eating, she finally spoke up.

"Harry, I wanted to ask you something…" Lily went on cautiously, "I've noticed that… you haven't gotten any mail this week. I mean, even Sirius got mail from his family… though that was a howler."

He sighed at the remembrance from the morning before. Harry had recognized Sirius' loud mother's voice, screaming at him. About what, he wasn't sure. The Black Monarch was slurring words together in her anger. The Marauders had been subdued for most of the day, up until after dinner when an unlucky Slytherin ended up with a dancing charm and danced all the way down to the Slytherin dorms since no one in the house knew the counter-charm.

"They've been busy…" His reply came out too weakly for his liking, so he cleared his throat, "They said they'd owl me by Saturday." He tried ending the conversation by stuffing a large piece of toast into his mouth.

"Ah… well, sorry to hear that." Her voice held disbelief as they both went to eating in silence again. Harry guessed that her mind was working just like Hermione's: putting everything that she's seen and heard together to bring out a solution – and not say anything about it until was necessary.

Eating his fill of food, he began to stand only to be stopped half way with Lily's voice.

"I think you're lying. Why?"

He wasn't suspecting that.

He almost laughed out loud at himself: Lily reminded him so much of Hermione that he just guessed she'd stay silent, just like his best friend of six years always did. He mentally scolded himself though, instead of laughing.

The boy didn't realize he was half way standing for a few moments, and when he did he quickly sat back down.

"I'm not sure what you mean," He answered in a small voice. The Sorting Hat said he was good of lying, _what a load of bollocks that was_, he thought to himself.

"You're lying," She repeated, "I can tell. Also, were your parents really there on the Platform?"

He stood before he even thought about doing so and swung his book bag over his shoulder while grabbing his walking stick, his usual dark world becoming colorful again.

"Lily… maybe I lied because I don't like the truth, so don't ask for it. I'm going to class."

"But class doesn't start for another thirty minutes," She said quickly back before he could walk away.

"Fine, then I need to go to the library." He took off then in a fast walk, much like he had done when he was in Diagon Alley, trying to get away from the same person from now.

Lily just sat, watching him go and she let out a sigh. She looked up a moment later to see the eyes of James Potter gazing at her. Rolling her own eyes, she also stood from the table and started to make her way to the Gryffindor dormitories.

"Why are you so short?"

He had been walking towards the library like he said he would when his walking stick hit a person's foot in front of him. The said person had a very small and curious voice.

"Excuse me?" He asked back.

"I said: why are you so short?" Harry had come to the decision that the person in from of him was either a first or second year or a very young sounding third year.

"Why do you care?" He said a little too harshly, but he didn't care, he didn't feel like being bothered at the moment. He began to start walking again without waiting for an answer, hoping the smaller boy would leave him alone. Instead, Harry heard the steps next to him; the boy was walking along with him.

"Because, I'm afraid that I may end up as short as you once I'm your age. That's a scary thought."

"Thanks." Harry sighed, his voice not holding any thankful tone in it.

"Well? Why are you so short?"

"Because I didn't eat enough greens as a small child and apparently I inherited my height from my mother."

"I honestly think you haven't eaten much of anything really."

It was true, ever since Dumbledore was killed at the end of his sixth year, and his search for Voldemort's Horcruxes in the past year, Harry had dropped a large amount of weight despite trying his hardest to keep it on; traveling around the country in search of pieces of a dark wizard's soul would do that to a person. And due to the fact that he hadn't had much weight to begin with, he was a step higher then a waif.

The seventh year stopped short at that comment and turned towards the younger student.

"Don't you have some other friends you can go bother?"

"Of course I do, but they're the ones who wanted me to talk to you. They say I have no trouble talking at all with some people, even ones who don't look nice."

The both just stood there for a few short moments in silence, Harry stareing at the dim yellow light a little shorter then he, and the boy looking up at him.

"So, what's under the cloth, huh?" The boy finally questioned.

"What's your name?" Harry avoided answering.

"Oh, I'm Conner Paige. I'm in Hufflepuff. I think you know my sister though."

The boy's last name rang a bell in Harry's mind. "Jesse is your sister? Is your whole family so bold with their questions?"

"My mother isn't, but everyone else is. We have an older sister who graduated three years ago. Jessica acts just like her. Honestly, I think Jesse likes acting like Kayla."

"Nice to know. Now, go run along to all your little friends, and I'll tell Jesse you said hello, alright?"

"But I still wa – "

"I do not care. Stop bothering me."

Harry took off walking again but towards class instead of the library. Conner didn't follow, which was something he was happy about but he still felt a little guilty for telling the boy off. A few years ago, he knew he wouldn't have done that. But now he didn't feel guilty enough.


	7. Friends

Tears of Erised

Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.

Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.

Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)

Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.

A friend may well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature" – Ralph Emerson

It was surprising to James when he made it to Defense class on time that morning. Sirius had luckily woken up and all four made it to class at a respectable time. What James wasn't expecting was to happily see Lily sitting at the front of the room while the new kid, Harry, sat all the way in the back. The boy had been annoying him more and more every time he saw him talking or just walking by Lily that week. For two people who had just met, they seemed to be getting along well, a fact that greatly ruffled James' feathers.

Smiling most smugly, James took his usual spot behind Lily and the three other Marauders took seats next to him.

Leaning forward, he lightly tapped Lily on the shoulder, 'Good morning, my darling. It seems your sightless chum doesn't want you around. You know, Lily, I want you – "

"Shut it, Potter," She interrupted, "I'm not in the mood for one of your pick-up lines. Not today."

Before he could answer, Lily was saved by the bell ringing and the Professor walking in just as it did.

"Good morning, class!" Said an overly enthusiastic young Milton; most of the teens just grumbled tiredly.

"So much for a warm welcome from this class. No matter, hopefully you'll be more awake tomorrow afternoon.

"Welcome to your final year of Defense Against the Dark Arts! This year we'll be focusing mainly on blocking dark charms and knowing the rest of our dark creatures. I know you learned most of the creatures in your third and fourth year, but this year we're going to finish up with the rest of them."

"What's up with him saying 'we'? It's not like he's the one who's learning… then again, we probably won't be learning much either," Sirius had leaned over to James and whispered into his ear, causing him to snicker.

Milton's attention was then focused onto James, "Excuse me… Mr. Potter, care to share what's so amusing?"

Caught off guard, James just stuttered slightly but still had a smirk on his lips, "Um, n-no sir, I think I'm quite fine with not answering that right now." Sirius was smiling too much for his own good, making the boy being questioned grin.

"Fine then, do you care to answer what a Cockatrice is, why is it so dangerous, and how a person may be able to defeat it?"

He of course hadn't yet read the text, so he shrugged his shoulders, "Sorry, sir, no idea."

"Five points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter. Is there anyone that knows the answer and care to gain points for their house?"

Lily's hand went up as usual, but she wasn't called on. Instead, the Professor pointed towards the back, "Mr. Winters?"

"A Cockatrice has a body of a dragon but the head of a rooster. They're so dangerous because their breath and even their look can be poisonous," Harry's quiet voice carried to the front of the class, and he paused for only a moment before going on, beginning to sound as if he hadn't memorized the information from a text. "And some certain types of Cockatrices can turn you to stone by also just looking at you. There are only two ways to kill it, which is by the sound of a rooster's crow, or… a weasel."

A few giggles went through the class to hear such odd ways to kill something.

"Very good, Mr. Winters! Ten points to Gryffindor. Now don't laugh too much, they sound like strange creatures but of course are very dangerous. Thankfully, though, they are one of the rarest creatures out there. Another creature almost similar to these are… ah yes, Miss Evans, please answer for us."

"Cockatrices are similar to the Basilisks, except the stare from a Basilisk will kill you instantly." Lily stated intelligently.

"Excellent! Another five points to your house! Now, we're not here today to be awarding many points to Gryffindor, sorry to say. Today, we'll be taking a test – now don't groan too loudly. It's easy and it should be all review, but there are some questions you may not know. This is just to show me what you all know. Mr. Lupin, could you please help me pass these out?"

Remus passed out all the tests within a minute and all the students went to work answering the questions. Half way through it, James began to day-dream while still writing down the questions. He began the usual dream of him and Lily getting married, growing old together, his vision of a nice life. Sirius had always teased him greatly about being a romantic, claiming Remus had rubbed off his personality to James.

When the Professor collected the papers a half an hour later, he was sure most of his questions were incorrect. That's what you get for thinking too much, Potter, he scolded himself mentally.

"That wasn't too bad, now was it? And since we see each other tomorrow, I'm just giving you the first chapter to read for homework, and write a foot long essay about the reptilian creatures in the chapter, due tomorrow. Class is dismissed early, use the free time wisely! And Mr. Potter, I'd like to see you before you leave."

Sighing heavily, James stood up with his bag, getting slapped on the back by Sirius and "good luck" by both Remus and Peter; he headed towards the Professors desk.

Milton waited until the last of the students filtered out of the classroom before he turned to him, giving him a frown and a stern look.

"Mr. Potter, what you did in class today was unacceptable. You will not speak like that in my class again or you will lose more then house points. Don't do it again. I expect your essay to be a foot and a half long."

James couldn't help it, his jaw dropped and he gave Milton an exasperated look, "I think I'd rather want a detention, Professor."

"I know you would, but not this time. Good day to you, Mr. Potter."

He couldn't help grumbling rude words under his breath all the way till he found his friends, and then his words became louder.

"Harry! Wait!"

The said boy stopped at the sound of her voice.

"What is it, Lily?"

What surprised Harry the most was when Lily pulled him into a hug. He automatically tensed, not really sure how to respond to the affection and she pulled back before he could relax.

"Listen, I'm sorry about this morning. I shouldn't have accused you like that."

He took a moment to register what Lily was saying, still surprised by his mother's hug.

"It's… it's alright, Lily. You were right though, my family wasn't really there at the Platform."

"But why?"

He shrugged, "It doesn't really matter."

"We're friends though, right?"

Smiling, he nodded. "Yeah, friends."

"Awe!" Cried Jesse from the side, making Harry jump at another surprise, not realizing she had been there, "I think that calls for another hug!"


	8. Blind

Tears of Erised

Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.

Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.

Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)

Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.

_He was staring at him again, the red eyes glaring at him with such confidence. He remembered feeling triumphant then, knowing that the Dark Lord had no idea what was up his sleeve, not knowing all but one piece of his soul was left. But now, having seen the same scene many times before, it had turned into an annoying nightmare._

_Voldemort's long fingered hand whipped his wand out as he called out the cruciatus curse and Harry wasn't able to dodge this time. He wasn't able to utter the spell that would destroy the dark lord. Pain hit him and he felt himself falling to the floor, knowing that the Dark Lord had won. All was lost… and Harry was enveloped in a green light just before yelling out his curse with the last of his strength, sudden pain bursting in his eyes._

Harry sat up quickly in his bed, whimpering loudly and rubbing at his dead eyes as if his old pain was made new. When he realized what he was doing, his hands dropped down to the bed cover and just sat there shivering in his bed. A minute later, calming himself down after the nightmare, he stood and made his way to the lavatory without thinking of tying his usual cloth over his eyes.

Quickly moving towards a faucet, he was too busy splashing water onto his face to hear a creak of a bed, and soft footsteps. He only realized that someone else was awake when an immense pain erupted in and around his eyes. Stumbling back from the sink and tripping on his own feet to land on his rear near the opposite wall, he quickly covered his eyes with a hand, waving his other at the person.

"Shut it off! Shut the bloody light off!" He clamped his other hand on his eyes just as the pain stopped.

"Harry! What's wrong?" It was Remus, and Harry heard him walk closer. His voice was full of concern.

"I'm fine, now… I just can't let light hit my eyes…" He shook his head and tried to calm himself down again. The pain was gone but it's sudden appearance shocked him. "I'm sorry if I scared you… did the others stay asleep?"

Remus walked out of the room for only a few seconds, only to walk back in.

"Yeah, they did. I knew Sirius would, he's always out like a log. Peter looked close to waking though. Don't worry, they won't."

The both were silent, Harry still sitting on the ground with his face lowered and Remus standing in the dark a few feet away.

"Harry…" The other spoke up first, "What happened to your eyes? They looked almost bruised…"

"It's nothing. They looked bruised, but they're not." Tired of sitting uncomfortably on the floor, he began to pull himself up and Remus lightly grabbed his upper arm halfway through to help him stand.

"Thanks. Why are you awake?"

"I heard you. It sounded like one bad nightmare."

Harry didn't answer him, instead just nodded. They stood in silence once more but it was broken rather fast, this time by Harry.

"Well, I think I'm going to try to get some sleep. Tomorrow may be Saturday, but I do have homework to be awake for."

"Right, sorry. I'll remember next time to watch the lights. Night, Harry."

"Night… oh and please don't tell the others about this."

Remus hesitated in answering, but for only a moment, "Don't worry. See you in the morning."

He listened to Remus walk towards his own bed. Harry stayed standing in the bathroom until he heard the other boy climb into bed, and then he moved towards his own four-poster bed, getting ready for the rest of a sleepless night.

The Saturday morning light shined on the grounds as children of the school decided to take walks or sit by the huge lake, happy that the first week of school finally was over.

One group was the three of them, Lily, Jessica, and Harry. They all sat under a tree a bit far off from the castle entrance. Lily was of course doing homework while chatting with Jesse. Harry just sat and listened, leaning his head tiredly back against the tree, letting the morning sun warm his face.

"Hey, Winters," Jesse abruptly addressed him, make the boy sit up slightly, "You alright? You've seemed kind of dead to the world since we walked out here."

He smiled weakly in her direction, vaguely aware that Lily's quill had stopped scratching on her paper and was listening in.

"I'm fine, just didn't have the best of nights… couldn't get to sleep, that's all."

Lily's quill began scratching on the paper again, and for a whole minute that was the only sound joined in with the other students enjoying they're day off ways away.

"So, Harry," Jesse began again, "The both of us still don't know that much about you. Care to tell?"

The quill stopped once again and Harry held in a sigh.

"Alright… what do you want to know?"

"Where'd you grow up?" Lily asked before Jesse could.

"Little Whining, Surrey for a while, but then I moved to London."

"What school did you go to before Hogwarts?"

"A small private school in London. It's called the Phoenix Academy."

"So why did you come here?" Jesse finally got a question in.

"My… Godfather was killed, and I didn't see a reason to continue at that school, so I kind of quit but only for a year. I decided to finish my schooling a couple months ago. Plus, my parents went here, so I figured I might as well come here, if just for a short time."

"Oh, I'm really sorry Harry." Lily was of course quick to try and comfort which made him smile slightly. He was glad his mother was such a kind person.

"It's fine, it wasn't your fault. But if you don't mind, could you ask only one more question? I don't think I feel like answering everything."

"How did you become blind?" Jesse shot out, getting a quiet "Jessica!" from Lily. He knew she was going to ask again eventually. He listened to the sounds of the children across the grounds and it sounded as if there was a rather fun game going on because he heard a lot of laughing, making him calm down and decide to answer her question.

"It was a spell," Harry started, "A spell I casted on someone made me blind."

"How does that work?" The always curious Lily asked.

"Ever hear the muggle saying: 'Eyes are the windows of the soul'?"

"Of course, I'm muggle-born."

"The spell I casted, it was meant to blind me. I knew it was going to beforehand."

"Why the hell would you do that, Winters?" Asked Jessica in normal tone, but she seemed almost concerned.

"Because it was the only way to stop this… bad guy, which the only way to classify him."

"That doesn't explain the quote you used," Lily said.

"Let me explain. The spell was old, only because rarely anyone has used it. What good is a wizard if they're blind? It was useful though, the only way to stop this man. It… transferred his powers into me, through my eyes."

Lily gasped, just as he guessed she would, but Jessica didn't say anything.

"But, Harry, that's dark magic and transfer spells are almost impossible to cast!"

"I know that. I found the spell over a year ago and it took me that whole time to learn it. I almost wasn't able to cast it when I did, but I had help… and it is dark. My Godfather came from a line of pureblood wizards, evil to boot. He wasn't liked by his family because he helped muggles and muggle-born, but he was the last of his line so he was left with a large house full of spells like that one. When he died, he left all of it to me, and I happened upon the dusty book that had that spell."

The three went quiet again, all lost in their thoughts but Harry felt as if he needed to explain more.

"I'm not that strong of a wizard, Lily. I wasn't even able to take all his powers, just weakened him. And as you can tell, it comes with consequences, more then just being blind. Such as I can't let the sun touch even my eyes because it brings out the most immense pain you'd ever imagine. And even fire light would pain me."

"Harry…" Lily said in a slow voice.

"I'm not a dark wizard, Lily. Look –"He pulled back his sleeve to show his arm clear of tattoos and dark marks. Save for a few scars etched in his forearm (which he covered back up quickly) there was no sign of him being a Death Eater. "I only did that spell to that man because he needed to be stopped, and it was the only way. I couldn't defeat him unless he became weakened. Besides, he deserved it."

"Deserved it how?" Jesse spoke up.

"He murdered my parents when I was younger, plus others." He went on after Lily gasped again, "I think you know enough, though. I feel like I'm being interviewed."

"That's because you are."

Harry gave Jessica a small smile in return. The three stopped talking then, Lily's homework forgotten as they just sat there, the silence taking over once again.

He was ready to go back inside the castle, feeling stifled already from all the questions. As he began to stand up though, he felt his hand being grabbed and he was pulled back down.

"One more thing, Winters," Jesse let go of his hand when he had sat back down, "We don't care so much about your past. We… well at least I can tell you're regretful about it. Just do yourself a favor, and don't frown so much."


	9. Fire

Tears of Erised

Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.

Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.

Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)

Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.

He felt a large headache begin to form on the side of his temple as he walked towards the entrance hall of the castle. Lily and Jessica were left behind under the tree by the lake, and instead of listening to Jesse's advice, Harry continued to frown all the way to the great doors when he entered the hall. He thoughts were swirling around the fateful day he had attacked the Dark Lord when he heard small steps join his and a familiar voice.

"Hullo, Harry," Little Conner said beside him, making Harry frown even more and stop walking.

"What? You want to ask why my hair is so messy this time? Afraid that you'll look just like that?" His questions came out harshly, a small sneer appearing on his lips.

"Merlin, Harry, I just wanted to say hello."

The blind boy sighed, frowning once again. "Sorry. You keep talking to me at bad times."

"Don't worry about it. Jesse is always saying I'm pest. I suppose it's true."

Harry sighed again and began to walk through the almost empty halls towards the library, Conner joining in step again.

"Where're your friends now, Conner?"

"Oh, off doing something or other. Honestly, I don't know. So, I saw you walking away from my sister and Lily and thought I'd say hello. You didn't get into a fight with them or something, right?"

Harry shook his head, "No, nothing like that, I was just getting a-" He suddenly stopped in his tracks, his posture rigid and his head turn to the side a little, listening.

"Harry, are – "

"Shut it, will you? I heard something…" Harry cut him off.

Conner fell silent next to him as he listened intently, his fingers twitching anxiously on his walking stick.

When he heard the sound again he jumped into action and began to walk quickly in a different direction, the younger boy following curiously.

"What did you hear?" Conner huffed out while trying to keep up with the seventeen year old.

"What? Didn't you hear it too?" He didn't wait for an answer as he continued at a fast pace, still listening.

He heard it again only louder, and instead of walking faster he stopped dead in his tracks, turning to look to his left.

"What're you looking at, Harry?"

"You tell me. Is this a window right here?" Harry could feel the warm autumn breeze blowing onto his face.

"Yeah, and it's looking straight at the – Whoa!" Conner cut himself off while talking, his voice taking on a surprised, awed tone. "The Forbidden forest! It's on fire!"

The blind boy whipped out his eleven inch wand and pointed to what he had assumed was the forest.

"Nachsehen!" He called out loud, and instantly images of a burning fire miles and miles away came to his mind. As he lowered his wand, he doubled over for a moment to catch his breath. He recalled the last few things Lupin said to him before he went back in time, and he had to agree; _the seeing charm does take a lot out of me_, he thought. "You can barely see it, Conner. It's no where near here."

"But how where you able to hear it? What exactly _did_ you hear? How do you know it's so far away? And are you alright?"

Harry began walking again without answering the smaller boy's many questions right away but after a few fast steps down the hall, he spoke.

"It was nothing. Now I need to go see the Headmaster. You go find your friends."

"The Headmaster?" Conner asked in surprise, "Can't I come too?"

"No. Now go before I tell your sister to send a letter to your mother about how much of a bother you're being."

The younger boy sighed in disappointment, "Fine… but you owe me later."

The two separated ways as Harry made his way to Dumbledore.

He found himself in front of the Headmaster's office not three minutes later, and while hesitating only a moment, he gave a rapt knock.

"You can come in, Mr. Potter"

Harry walked in and shut the door quietly behind him before facing the Headmaster, "I don't think it's be very wise to call me that."

"There is no one around, my dear boy. Do not worry so." Harry was surprised to hear and 'see' Dumbledore not at his desk but to the left, standing near the small window that the blind boy knew to be at.

"You heard it too."

"Heard? No. But Fawkes warned me and then I saw it for myself. What did you hear?"

"Dragons. Two of them." The boy moved to stand near Dumbledore, moving his face towards the headmaster as if he was looking at him. "Why are there two dragons burning the forest?" Harry asked him, but he felt as if he already knew the answer.

"I will answer you honestly, I have no idea. My belief is it must be something about the centaurs, not us. Voldemort is not happy with the centaurs at the moment."

"So he burns them so close to your school? He's trying to frighten you, Headmaster."

"And why would he do that, Mr. Winters?" Dumbledore's voice sounded amused, as if speaking about the War and Voldemort's tactics with a seventeen year old was hilarious.

"To keep you on the edge of your seat. I find it ironic he's using muggle tactics. My advice is to let the centaurs deal with their own burning trees. And knowing that forest, the fire shouldn't last long." Harry could almost slap himself after he realized what he was saying. _What am I_ _doing?_ He thought to himself, _I'm supposed to be having a break, not joining the very war I ended!_

Dumbledore seemed to sense his trouble as he chuckled, "Don't worry, Harry, I will not ask you to join any war, just to help protect my school. That is one of the reasons you are here, is it not?"

The boy sighed heavily, "Yes, it is. Hogwarts is going to have a troubled year, otherwise I'd be back in my own time finishing school then. And don't ask me what's going to happen, because I myself have no idea. I just wanted to inform you about the forest, Albus. Make sure the fire doesn't get to close… I think I'll go finish my homework now."

"I hope you're enjoying Hogwarts." The old man chuckled as Harry turned to leave the office, "Oh, and Harry." The said boy turned to 'look' at the Headmaster, "Are you anything like your father? What I mean is, do you like to fly?"

He sighed sadly, "I did. I was a seeker for six years until I was blinded at the end of last year."

"There is a seeker position open on the Gryffindor team if you're interested. And there are ways around blindness. You are a wizard after all. If you're interested at all, come speak to me again soon. The try-outs are in about two weeks. You wanted a break, didn't you?"

Harry couldn't help but smile brightly at the thought of playing Quidditch again, and he nodded his head to the Headmaster, "I'll think on it."

With his mood considerably lighter, Harry finally walked out of the office and Albus Dumbledore again turned to gaze out at the burning forest miles away, the smoke rising ever higher.


	10. Anger

Tears of Erised

Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.

Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.

Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)

Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.

He who angers you conquers you. - Elizabeth Kenny

The rest of Saturday went with a blur of homework. Lily and Jesse had both entered the castle after a few hours and joined him, neither of them saying anything about the conversation they had earlier.

Whenever he took a break from his homework, he always walked to a window to cast the seeing charm to check the forest, only getting brief images of the mile high smoke cloud above it, but he was no longer able to see any orange dots from the flames.

When Sunday came, Harry had a rude awakening call.

He finally was able to find some sleep, exhausted from using the Seeing Charm so many times, one of the more complex charms ever known. He was slowly waking up when he felt someone close to him. His sleepy mind only had a moment to register what was going on until he felt his black cloth whipped off his eyes.

And then the pain took over.

James sat awake in his bed, earlier then usual, especially on the weekend. Sirius' snores could be heard resounding throughout the dormitory, joined with Peter's small snorts. But the stag animagi wasn't thinking about his two close friends. He was staring across the room at the bed that was completely covered with curtains; at the first competition he's ever had with girls.

True, James didn't try very hard to befriend the new kid, Winters. He didn't really care for him the first time he saw him, especially when he stuck up for Lily as if he, James, were the bad-guy.

Coming to a decision, he stood from his bed and walked to the windows, opening the curtains to let the morning sunlight enter the room. He continued down the room until he came to a stop next to the large four-poster bed containing Winters inside.

Slowly, so not to wake him, James began to pull the curtains back, letting the sunlight fall across the sleeping boy. He had his legs pulled up close to himself as if for protection, his long hair sprawled messily out all over his pillow.

He hesitated, but when James saw Harry begin to stir from his sleep, he brought his hand down quickly. Grabbing the black cloth surrounding the smaller boy's eyes, he gave a sharp tug and it came loose.

The eyes snapped open. James only had less of a second to stare down at small black veins standing out in contrast on pale skin and familiar looking dead green eyes before the eyes were shut tightly again, and Harry yelled out loudly in pain.

Pain worse then all of his scar headaches combined, Harry rolled onto his stomach to press his face into his pillow, his yelling stopped, but he gave a painful whimper into his pillow as he heaved air in and out of his chest, the pain lessening but still there.

James took a step back in surprise, his mouth agape and his arm still held out in front of him, clutching the black cloth in his hand.

"Ugh… nice new way to wake me, Prongs, make me think someone is…dying…" Sirius, who had just woken up from the yelling, trailed off in his sentence when he noticed the cowering Harry and the stock-still James.

"James…?" Peter asked quietly from his bed.

The Stag Animagi only moved, or rather jumped, when a loud knocking came from the other side of the door.

"Oi!" Jessica's voice carried through, "Who the hell is dying in there?"

James quickly ran to the door and locked it, dropping the cloth on the floor in his haste.

"I am Head Girl, James David Potter!" Lily yelled through, "Unlock this door and let me through this instant! Or you'll live to regret it."

"It's nothing, my darling!" James called back, "Just Sirius, not happy with me pouring water on him, that's all!"

"It sounded painful, but you better be telling the truth. If I find out otherwise – "

"I know! You'll murder me in my sleep. It's fine Lily… I'm not lying." He glanced guiltily over at Harry, who was shivering slightly on his bed but otherwise hadn't moved his face from his pillow or said a word.

"Fine…Sirius, please try to be quieter next time." The four boys in the room stood still as they listened to the girls walk away, and only when their footsteps faded away did Harry speak in a voice muffled from the pillow.

"I hope you have a really good reason for doing that."

James turned around and bent down to grab the cloth from the floor as Sirius stood up and walked over to Harry's bed.

"Merlin, James, you should be happy Remus wakes up early. He wouldn't have covered your ass like that. Anyway, what happened?"

"I just wanted to see your eyes, that's all Winters." James threw the cloth onto the back of Harry's head.

"Close my curtains **now**!" Harry demanded loudly and James obeyed with a frown.

Peter stood up from his bed to come stand next to the taller boys and it was only a second later that Harry pulled back his curtains and stood from his bed, his cloth wrapped tightly back in it's place. His brow was creased in anger, but he didn't look very intimidating with his paler then usual skin and a slight shiver shook his body every few seconds, making him look sickly.

"Well, _James_, if you wanted to see my bloody eyes all you had to do was ask, then I'd tell you to bugger off!" In his anger, Harry threw his hands up at the end of his sentence and the glass of a framed picture on James' nightstand cracked, making Peter take a step back, but it only made James just as angry.

"Well, _Harry_, if you didn't have to be so close to Lily, I wouldn't have to hate you so much!"

A look of hurt crossed the blind boy's face, but it was only replaced with anger a second later.

"She's my friend, you bastard! Oh, and since you can't get it through your thick skull – she hates all the bullying you do! Get a clue! You'll be nothing more then an annoyance in her eyes until then. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the loo." Without waiting for a response, Harry turned on his heel and walked away. Just before entering the washroom, he turned to 'look' at an angry James, who just glared at him.

"Oh, and Potter, if you ever do that again, you'll sorely regret it. And please, do take that as a threat." Without another word, Harry slammed the door behind him.

…

"Harry?"

The boy jumped from his thoughts, caught unaware again.

It was now three in the afternoon, and Harry had been in the library all Sunday, avoiding everyone. He still felt, and he was sure looked, sickly. And so to not raise attention to himself, he tried to stay away from contact that day. His dormitory was out of the question.

"Harry, are you alright?" Lily's soft voice asked in concern and he felt her take a seat next to him.

"You know, I think James is kind of jealous of me." He gave a sardonic smile, even though he found nothing humorous about his statement. Shutting the book in front of him soundly, he raised his face to Lily, "Yeah… I think I'm okay."

"You liar, you seem like everything but okay."

"Different subject please." Lily sighed at Harry's request.

"Fine, fine…" She paused for a moment as if thinking, "Alright, care to tell how you're able to read with no eyes?"

"Quite simple, actually. It's that new thing called a spell, all the rage you know." Harry cracked a little happier smile to show his sarcasm.

"Come on, Harry, seriously now."

"It's called the Reading Charm. It was developed a few hundred years ago for blind wizards. Say the charm on what you want to read and it whispers the words into your ears. Exceedingly clever, actually. This past summer, I learned many new spells to help me. So, while you do need to help me with finding food, you don't have to read out loud on my be-half."

Lily laughed softly, "I actually like helping you so it's no bother. Though, I must say it's amusing to see you poke around at all the plates in the morning for breakfast."

"Oh ha ha. Let's all laugh at the blind boy now." He smiled optimistically her way. "Thanks for coming to find me, I appreciate it. This day has not been the best."

"How could I not come looking for you? Not there at breakfast, not joining us down at the lake, and then not there at lunch. Jesse and I both thought you had died."

"No, not died. I'm fine, Lily, I just wasn't feeling well this morning and I didn't want to stay in our dormitory."

"You weren't feeling well? Now that you mention it, you do look under the weather. What happened? You were fine yesterday."

He sighed and rolled his eyes, "Just James, being an ass again."

"What happened?" Lily asked, or more like demanded to know, all traces of amusement gone from her voice.

"He um… well, you know…" Harry cleared his throat, trying not to stutter, "He doesn't like me being your friend. So, therefore he wanted to see my eyes without telling me so."

"Wait, was that you shouting this morning?"

He only nodded.

"So you're telling me he took your handkerchief off your eyes?"

"While I was asleep, yes, and there was sun. Remember I told you I couldn't let the sun hit my eyes?"

There was a long silence between them before Lily stood up loudly, "I swear to Merlin, Potter is going to get it!"

"**Alright, that's it**!" Lily and Harry both looked up at the sound of Madam Pince's angry voice, "I'm tired of you teenagers being so loud! **Out of my library**!"

Sighing, Harry grabbed his book bag and walking stick, Lily standing along with him. And to his surprise, she placed her arm under his to guide him out. Even though he didn't need a guide, he didn't object to her help.


	11. Goggles

Tears of Erised

Summary: Harry's greatest wish was to grow up with his parents, but he knows that that will never happen. Instead, he gets the next best thing – to get to know them. Now as a year that Harry thought would be bliss, turns out to be hard for him and almost no one trusts him. Especially his prankster father, James.

Spoilers: This is Post-HBP, so there will be mentions of the sixth book.

Ratings: PG-13 (Or T)

Warnings: Mentions of torture and some gore in the later chapters and language.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter isn't mine at all. I'll get over it.

(A/N: IMPORTANT! To anyone who read this story before I posted this chapter, just know that I've gone back and made changes. I'm so sorry for taking over a year to get back to it!)

It wasn't until that Wednesday that Harry finally remembered the offer Dumbledore made to him for Quidditch, and it wasn't until that same day that James' 'attack' was mentioned again.

Having already finished his homework, Harry just sat with his head set on an open book, looking asleep while Lily and Jessica both worked on their school work.

"I don't understand," Jesse started to say, "How did you finish your homework before the Ultimate Schoolgirl Lily over here?"

Harry just grunted in response, keeping his head down on the open book.

"Alright, alright, but if you plan on taking a nap, you might want to go to the common room before Madam Pince finds you."

It was a moment later that Lily threw down her quill and she let out a frustrated noise, making Jesse lean back in her chair, but Harry stayed where he was.

"I can't think!" She exclaimed while shutting her book, "Three days, Harry! Three days since what happened and you haven't done anything! Haven't even talked about it!"

She was given some glares from near-by tables because of her loud voice, but thankfully Madam Pince was at the other side of the library and Jesse just gave a short glare back. Lily leaned in closer to the table and poked Harry on the shoulder, finally making him lift his head from the make-shift pillow.

"Listen," She said in a half-whisper, "You need to do something to him. That was way low of Potter and I'm not letting this one slide."

Harry just rubbed at his eyes through the cloth covering them and sat up straighter, "I don't feel like telling Dumbledore, and playing a joke on them would only make them play it back." He slumped down a little in his chair, waiting for her response, but Jessica answered instead.

She simply stated: "Have James catch you snogging Lily."

The idea had an effect on the both of them, making Lily blush scarlet and Harry sitting up straight in his chair, coughing somewhat loudly, "Wha-what?" He sputtered out.

"You heard me," She said calmly, as if not noticing her two friends turning uncomfortable, "Get into a hallway, wait till James starts to walk down it, then snog like hell! That'll give the right effect, anger him as well as pain him. Didn't he anger and hurt you, Harry?"

He didn't answer, but instead just shook his head, "No. I don't like Lily that way, and I wouldn't use her like that!"

"Oh, c'mon! It's a good idea, isn't it? It's not like he can get you back by snogging anyone else."

"Yes, but he'll get the wrong impression."

"Exactly! Then maybe he'll start to leave Lily alone."

Lily finally found her voice: "Oh, right, Jesse. Like the past six and a half years of going after me will suddenly seem useless. Please, he'll turn all his pranking from Snape to Harry!"

"That might not be too bad," He replied, "I can take care of myself, Snape seems to have a problem with that."

"You're blind!" Lily said loudly, earning more glares and a slight cringe from Harry, "Sorry… but it's the truth; you wouldn't be able to see any spells or fireworks that were sent your way."

"Am I a wizard or not? I have ways to help me see and tell when things are coming."

"Such as…?" she inquired.

He hesitated only a second before he reached under his seat and picked up his walking stick, holding it up, "My staff, okay? It helps."

"Harry, that's not the same, it only helps you not run into things."

"Not true, it – "

"Enough you two!" Jessica exclaimed loudly. A near by student turned their head and shushed at the group to be quiet. "Have you noticed we got just a little off topic?" She said in a quieter voice.

"It doesn't matter," Harry shot back, "Because I'm not doing it. That idea is low, and I don't like it."

"Isn't going after you while you're sleeping low too?"

"Exactly, we'll be sinking to his level, and I don't want to." He sighed, placing a few books into his bag, "Listen, I need to go speak to Milton about an assignment. You two have fun with your homework."

Lily just went back to her homework as Jessica watched Harry leave with a frown.

Harry was not in fact heading towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, but instead to Dumbledore's office, one idea in mind.

Saying the password to the statue as soon as he stepped up to it, he quickly walked up the stairs, stumbling once from walking too fast. Out of instinct, he just opened the door without knocking to find Dumbledore standing in front of his cupboard off to the side of his large desk.

"Ah Mr. Winters, a pleasure to see you, as always."

"Sorry about not knocking, Professor." Harry said sheepishly as he shut the door behind him.

"No worries, my boy. You're in a hurry I see, so what exactly do you need?"

"I wanted to take you up on that offer of Quidditch if I still could, sir."

"Of course; I had assumed you'd want to, so I took the liberty to make it already."

"Make what…?"

Without answering, Dumbledore walked behind his large desk and reached into a drawer, pulling something out.

"Here we are. Made this small creation myself, but it does have it's own flaws. Such as, the spell wears off rather soon, so you'll have to learn the enchantment yourself if there is going to be a long game."

The old Professor walked forward and placed something into Harry's hand.

"Those look like simple Quidditch goggles, but the lenses are considerably tinted so no sunlight will get in to hurt your eyes. Go ahead, Mr. Winters, try them on."

Harry glanced uneasily up at the Headmaster, but slipped the goggles on easily over his black cloth covering his eyes. Reaching back, he untied the cloth and pulled on it until it came out from under the goggles. At feeling no pain, he looked up at Dumbledore with a confused look.

"Sure, it doesn't let light in but how is this going to help me find the snitch?"

Again without answering, the elder wizard pulled out his wand, reaching forward to lightly tap the goggles on Harry's eyes, "Vibrieren."

The effect was immediate: a strong wave of magic enveloped his entire head, seeping through to his skull, and giving a sudden pain to both of his ears, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

Jumping back from the surprise and pain, he felt Dumbledore grab his left arm in a gentle grip.

"Calm down, Harry. Close your eyes and just focus on hearing."

Taking in a deep breath, he slowly shut his eyes and focused only on listening. Slowly, dark shadows formed before him as if he was actually looking out of the goggles. There were no colors, except for what he saw with his walking stick. With an idea, he dropped the walking stick quickly, losing all colors but he still held the image of a shadowy, barely seen Dumbledore. He suddenly laughed for the first time in a while and brought his hand up to the goggles, passing his hand over the lenses, losing the image of the Headmaster temporarily until he moved his hand away.

"This is amazing, Professor…how… well, it doesn't matter. Thanks."

"It's not a problem, Harry. The spell is rather difficult and I'll give you the page to learn it, but for now keep them off and come to me if the spell doesn't work."

He nodded while glancing around the room.

"But, Professor, how come I can't see anything else in the room."

"Well, because nothing else in the room is moving. You'd be able to see Fawkes, but he's out somewhere in the forest now."

"So the spell really plays off sound?"

"Off of the vibration in sound, Mr. Winters. Goggles like these have been used on blind wizards before, but usually on glasses, not Quidditch goggles. You'll be able to see the snitch with these if you concentrate hard enough, and don't worry, this isn't cheating. You have the disadvantage because of all the sounds in a match, it'll be just as difficult to find."

Nodding again, Harry moved his hand in front of his face, seeing the blurred image off it moving across.

Without warning, the Headmaster raised his wand again to the goggles, "Halten."

The image of his hand and Dumbledore disappeared, leaving only blackness around Harry.

"Best not waste the charm for now. To activate it again, just say Anfangen while tapping the goggles and it should work."

Harry grinned from ear to ear, something that felt foreign and actually stretched and pained his long scar on the right side of his face, but he didn't care. As he wrapped his black cloth around his head again and slipped the goggles up and off his head, he continued to smile from the image of flying again. He would have an easy time with the Patronus Charm right then.


End file.
